I Love This!

Two of my most favorite things, in case you didn't know, are Diet Coke and Chocolate. Both of which my friend Melanie McAllister gave me for my birthday. Today she gave me this adorable sign which she made for me. I think she totally has my number. While others may "Return With Honor," how would anyone know it was me if I didn't have a Diet Coke in one hand, and some chocolate in ther other???

Thank you Melanie! This will have a place of honor in my house ... you can be sure of that!

A Promise

My best friend gave this card to me on our 40th birthays. I've kept it because ... well, because she has kept her promise....

Forty-three Years and Counting!

My BFF Beth had her birthday Monday. We've been friends for 43 years this month, so of course in all that time we've celebrated many birthdays together. Her birthday dinner of choice was always BBQ Beef Sandwiches and chocolate cake with peppermint frosting. I did get the recipe for the sandwiches, but never did get the peppermint frosting recipe. Beth tried to make it once when we were roommates and it turned out looking like she'd thrown up on the plate!

So every year I make these sandwiches for my family on her birthday. It's the only time all year I do make them, and I always ask why, cuz they're so stinkin' good!  It's been kind of a crazy couple of days around here so I'm making them for dinner tonight. Mmmm! I can smell the meat cooking!

I'm sharing the recipe here. The only thing I do differently these days is, after I brown the meat, I put it and the onions in my crock pot before I cover it with the sauce so it can cook all day long. The house smells amazing and it makes the meat easy to shred, which I like. I also prefer chuck roast for the way it tastes. Give it a try!

This is a picture of Beth and I the summer we were 17.

We spent a week up at Lake Tahoe before we started college.

Don't we look young???

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

4-5 pound pot, chuck or rump roast

3 medium onions, sliced

French rolls (sliced sandwich size)

For sauce:

1/4 cup water

8 oz tomato sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

2 pressed garlic cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

Brown meat (seasoned well) in heavy kettle. Drain off fat when done. Top with onion slices.

Combine sauce ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour over beef and onions.

Simmer covered for approximately 2 hours for sliceable meat, 3+ hours for very tender. If it dries out add water.

Serve on heated and buttered rolls.

Oh ... YEAH!

So True!

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND

Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.

Cicero, 106-43BC

My BFF

For some reason I've been missing my friend Beth lately.  We've been friends since-gulp!-1968 when we were seated next to each other in 8th grade English class.  The teacher wanted to keep an eye on us both so he decided if he put us together right in front of his desk we would be quiet and behave.

Hah!  Here we are, all these years later, and we're still not behaving.  Whenever we do get together we still find ways to get in trouble, even at the ripe ol' age of 55.  Can't tell you how many shops we've been in and gotten reprimanded by management.

Beth is a grief counselor (her specialty) but also works in disaster relief situations like the recent PG&E explosion near San Francisco where she worked with the victims helping them cope with the situation, then went to a memorial service for a co-worker and her daughter who were killed in the same explosion.  She's a remarkable woman.

Many years ago I was asked to give a talk at a Relief Society birthday dinner.  They asked me to talk about the woman who had most influenced my life.  Two other women were asked to speak as well.  One spoke about Eleanor Roosevelt, the other about Ruth from the Bible.  I told them about Beth.  How she's never judged, always been there for me.  And, like a true friend, we've had some doozy fights.  Our love for each other has withstood it all.

Being far away from her is hard.  I have made some remarkable friendships here in Colorado, but there is something to be said for a friend who is your heart's twin.  We know, we feel each other always.  We don't have to explain because we've liveed  each other's histories.  Having such a friend is a gift from God.  Not everyone is so blessed, but if you have been, treasure your friend.

I miss Beth.

Ralph Was Right

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND

Friendship is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.

Muhammad Ali
1942 -

What To Do

I have been communicating with my mother's cousin recently.  Her mother, my great aunt Charlotte, is my mother's closest friend.  More than an aunt, Charlotte is only ten years older than my mother and since my mom was a little girl she and Charlotte have had a special bond, a deep love and friendship that goes beyond aunt and niece.  She means everything to my mother, and now it looks like Charlotte is on her last journey.

At 98 she has lived a good life.  A teacher, she has always loved talking and learning and reading and being part of everything.  Now, blind, deaf and increasingly isolated and weakened, her daughters, and all of us who love Charlotte, are preparing ourselves to say goodbye to her.

And I don't know how to help my mother do that. 

Charlotte's been a part of her life, a big part, for more than 80 years.  I can't imagine the hole that will leave. 

I'm so grateful to know that this is only temporary, and our sorrow is for ourselves because we will miss knowing she is here.  And when we meet again it will be joyful.

I guess the one thing that I can remind my mom is that Charlotte's love for her will not end.  And she will see her again someday.

Friends are Valentines Too!

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.


C.S. Lewis
1898-1963

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND

“I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down...”

Abraham Lincoln
1804-1865

My BFF's Coming!

I am so excited.  My best friend, Beth, is coming for a visit!  She'll be here the weekend of the 16th--so I am makin' plans for lots of talking, lots of hot chocolate and lots of fun.

We met in 8th grade English class.  We were both talking so the teacher moved us next to each other right in front of his desk so he could keep an eye on us.  Who knew that more than 40 years later we'd still be talking?

She still lives in California, and in the ten years since we've moved to Colorado we have tried to get together whenever we can, and talk on the phone as time permits.  She is a therapist who specializes in grief counseling, and is very busy.  Those of you who have read my mystery novel should know that the character of Kate is based upon her.  It's not entirely Beth, but is very much like her.  Maeve and Kate are the two of us.  In college we used to write our own Nancy Drew stories to amuse ourselves, and the girl detective is still one of our heronies.

I'm just so excited.  It's been about three years since I've seen her.  I think the Martin Luther King holiday is my new favorite holiday!!